Defect-Healing in Perovskite Photovoltaics Driving Long-Term Reliability and Performance

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved remarkable power conversion efficiencies exceeding 27%, yet their commercial deployment remains hindered by intrinsic instabilities and vulnerability to environmental stressors. Self-healing strategies have emerged as a promising route to address these limitations by enabling in-operando repair of defects arising from light, moisture, heat, and mechanical stress. This review outlines degradation pathways, distinguishing between reversible and irreversible processes, and the fundamental mechanisms that enable defect healing. Three primary strategies systematically discussed are: i) composition engineering to tune defect dynamics, ii) incorporation of robust polymer/hybrid networks to suppress mechanical and environmental degradation, and iii) dynamic bonding systems that enable reversible structural healing. Representative studies are analyzed in terms of activation conditions, healing mechanisms, and stability improvements under bending fatigue, thermal cycling, and long-term light exposure. Beyond mechanistic insights, this review uniquely bridges fundamental insights with scalable application prospects, including roll-to-roll manufacturing, flexible electronics, and building-integrated photovoltaics. The compatibility of self-healing frameworks with industrial encapsulation and packaging, offering a pathway from lab-scale demonstrations to industrial-scale deployment is also examined. By integrating multi-triggered healing chemistries with large-area manufacturing, these strategies pave the way toward durable, high-performance, and commercially viable PSC technologies for real-world energy applications.